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Speaker cables play an incredibly important role, and yet many people seem to be confused about what makes good speaker cable and what to consider when buying new cables. A common analogy is that speaker wires are like the arteries in your home entertainment system. Just like arteries carry blood from the heart and distribute it throughout the body, speaker cables carry audio signals away from your amplifier or receiver and send them to the various speakers placed around the room.
Since all manufacturers claim that their cable offers the best performance, it can be extremely difficult to choose which type of speaker cable to choose; And with prices ranging from a few dollars to literally thousands of dollars a foot, it’s hard to tell if you’ve landed a fantastic bargain or been ripped off.
It doesn’t help that there is so much misinformation out there; in fact, many of the so-called experts actually only make things worse by spreading myths and rumors disguised as hard facts. With that in mind, here are some simple things to consider the next time you venture out to buy a new cable.
All wires experience resistance to some degree, but you’ll find that the thicker the speaker wire, the lower the resistance; so it is advisable to opt for a cable with a decent gauge. The thickness of the wire can depend on how long you want it to be, but as a general rule of thumb, for runs up to 15 feet, 16 gauge wire should be perfectly fine. For runs between 15 and 25 feet, use 14-gauge wire, and for runs longer than 25 feet, use 12-gauge wire. Generally, the heavier wires (those with the lower gauge numbers) They tend to be more expensive, so don’t be fooled into paying more for thick 12 gauge wire if thinner 16 gauge wire would be adequate.
Another point of much confusion is whether or not to use a connector at the end of the cable. Many people argue that it is best to only use the bare end of the wire, while many say that you should use some type of connector, such as a banana plug or spade terminal. The main benefit of using connectors is that they make it much easier to quickly connect and disconnect the cable, but they have nothing to do with sound quality. The simple truth is that it really doesn’t matter how you connect your speaker wire, the only important thing is that the wire is secure and the terminal is free of corrosion.
Many people also ask if the speaker wire should be the same length for each speaker. If you’re running a 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound system it can be very expensive to buy enough cable to ensure each cable is exactly the same length and it’s also a complete waste of money. This myth that “all cables should be the same length” was started by manufacturers as a way to get consumers to buy more cables.
Simply use as much cable as you need to connect each speaker to your amplifier or receiver. There’s absolutely no need to make each cable the same length, after all, what’s the point of paying for a 10-foot run of cable if all you need is a 5-foot run? Just make sure you take careful measurements before you buy your cable. A good tip is to lay a piece of string following the path you want your wire to take, then you can measure the string to find out the exact length of wire you need.